Brief Candle
by Melissa Treglia
Summary: "My life has never been mine. Someone else has always been pulling my strings." Not all vampires get to live forever. Some die very young.


Inspired by Mervin's sporking of _The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner_, specifically the fact that Meyer failed abysmally to give Bree her own voice and make her a sympathetic character (as opposed to being Bella's Mini-Me). I've also used Bree's character sheet in the official guide to fill in the gaping holes that the Bree Tanner novella left open.

_"My life has never been mine. Someone else has always been pulling my strings." _Not all vampires get to live forever. Some die very young.

* * *

**Brief Candle**

by Melissa Treglia

I wasn't born a vampire. Once, I was just a kid. But you probably already figured that out.

My name is Bridget Georgiana Nelson Tanner. Bree, for short. I was born in Vegas, but I grew up on a chicken farm in Sadie, Idaho. Our nearest neighbor was half a mile away.

I suppose that's why nobody ever knew that my father was beating on me. It was just me and my Papa, and there was nowhere for me to run. And I couldn't fight him, neither; I was so runty, a stiff wind could knock me on my ass.

But I did run away. Finally scraped together enough money to haul my ass off to Seattle. I was there for three weeks, a dumpster-diving runaway, when Riley found me. He offered me a cheeseburger and a place to stay; I was willing to sell my body for that, if necessary, but he wanted my soul instead.

I'm still a runt, only now I'm a _vampire_runt instead of a human runt. I know I look like I'm twelve, but I'm actually sixteen. Riley turned me on my birthday... and now I know that's the first and last birthday gift I'll ever have.

They're gonna kill me, ain't they?

I don't know why I'm not afraid. I guess I've always known that I'm not destined for a long and happy life. Better to burn out than fade away, I guess.

I was terrified of my Papa; if I'd stayed with him any longer than I did, I just know I would've died there. I'm thinking that maybe Mama hadn't just run out on him. Maybe he killed her. Maybe he'd've killed me too. 'Cause, if Mama'd run, she would've taken me with her, I reckon.

Please find out what happened to her; I bet you have all sorts of connections that I never did. My soul will rest easy when someone knows the truth. If Mama _did_die at Papa's hand, then please bring him to justice. Mama and I both deserve that much.

That's my dying wish, mind-reader. I know you're one of these Cullen folk; I just don't know which one. So I'm just hoping you can hear me now. If I'm lucky for once in my damn life, then you can read me loud and clear.

I hope you know that I never wanted to hurt anyone. Those people - I... I was just so _hungry_. I hope you, being an older blood-sucker, remember what the hunger is like when you're all new and improved. It's like... being starved your whole life and then being plopped in front of a pile of Big Macs. You know it's bad for you, and your body needs to take it slow and adjust, but you're so _hungry_.

But people ain't burgers. If you pig out on too much Mickey D's, the only person you hurt is yourself. But if a vampire can't control the thirst... people die.

I never wanted anyone to _die_ 'cause of me. I never wanted to fight, never wanted to be part of no damn _army_. But I ain't never had a say in the direction my life was headed. Fate or Destiny, or whatever the hell, has had other ideas from the start.

My life has never been mine. Someone else has always been pulling my strings. First it was Papa, then it was Victoria, and now it's these Volturi yahoos.

I'm gonna die, I know it. And I got nothing left to lose. So, I'm laying it all on the table for ya.

That Jane bitch is _lying_. She knew all about us, knew what Victoria was doing, and she and her vampire cops made no move to stop it.

Bitch can mind-taser my ass all she wants. I've got no reason to lie. And now you know what I know.

These vampire cops are _dirty_. I expect you've got a horse in the race too, a reason to find out what these suckers are hiding. Kick 'em in the ass, Cullens.

I'm probably going to Hell for the people I killed, and that's fair. Just take care of those Volturi before you get there,... and my Mama too. I'll make sure to save you a seat at the bar. First rounds'll be on me.

Oh, Godda...- ..._hurts!_-

**_*Fin*_**


End file.
